The Tipperary Antiquarian

Its hard to believe that this site not far from Birr / Kinnity in Offaly was once on the border between the Province of Meath and Munster. The nearby River Camcor acts as the boundary between Ely O'Carroll and Fir Cell. It was originally a monastery founded by St. Barrind. In 1184 there was a meeting here between the Kings of Meath and Thomond. At this meeting Art O'Maelsechlainn was treacherously slain by Diarmuid O'Briain during what were supposed to be peace talks. When the Normans arrived a Motte and Bailey was built (possibly by Hugh De Lacy) which again shows its strategic importance of this boundary between two kingdoms. Unfortunately the Bailey here was bull-dozed in the 1970s.

Copyright Andrew Dunn - www.andrewdunnphoto.com In the Arra area there are not one but two Gallows Hills marked on the old OS maps. Both known as Knocknacrohy or Cnoc na Croiche. Both I believe are attributed to the Mac I Briens who are thought to have ruled the area with an iron fist. The first is at Pallas more. I don't have a lot of details on it. The old OS maps show two possible locations for it. Copyright OSI / NMS This one seems to show it on the east of the road and likely at the highest point (694). Copyright OSI / NMS This one doesn't give a clear location for the hill. Personally I always equated the mounds in the field marked on the map above with the red arrow as being the location of the Gallows. I could be wrong though, that is why I've put together this post.  Copyright Google Street view Ive marked the various mounds with red arrows on Google Streetview. So if anyone knows the definite location of Gallows Hill at Pallas, I'd be d...

Copright OSI I first came across some folklore on duchas.ie relating to a well where Brian Boru is meant to have washed his wounds following the Battle of Soloheadbeg in 968. "The Danes came to the hill of Brogue in the year 968. Brian Boru was going to Solohead to fight a battle with them. Brian won the battle. So after the battle Brian washed his wounds beside a well near Solohead and since then the district around it is called King's Well. At that time there was no town in Tipperary. The town was at Greenane about a mile outside the present town of Tipperary." https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4922296/4867865/5055948 I posted about it over on my facebook page, asking if anyone can came across this well or the placename. Thanks to the magic of facebook and people helping each other on it, Barbara Daly Ledwidge gave me a lead that the northern edge of Tipperary Town is known as Kings Well on google maps. A check on archaeology.ie was able to reveal the locati...

Aghnameadle Megalithic Tomb in North Tipp. Only discovered and recorded in 2017 by Tom Bán of Wovenworld bushcraft , it just shows that large structures can remain unknown in Ireland even today. Well done to Tom for finding this and bringing it to the attention of the NMS. The area seems to be one of settlement for thousands of years with a nearby Motte and a castle belonging to the Egan clan which also doubled up as a medieval university. The tomb it is described as follows on archaeology.ie "Situated in slight hollow in undulating countryside with Ollatrim River 50m to NE and low hillock immediately to N. Field boundary running ENE-WSW immediately to SSE. Present remains consist of two upright orthostats their long axis aligned NE-SW standing 90cm apart with the remains of a large displaced capstone (dims. 1.75m x 1.4m x 0.45m) resting on E orthostat (dims. H 0.7m x L 1.17m x T. 0.3m) forming a small rectangular chamber (approx. dims. L 2.8m x Wth 0.9m). A sec...

From the local signage "for centuries Donohill was where the meal for the surrounding countryside was stored in a tower on the site of this fort. This precious grain was guarded by the O'Dwyers on whose land the fort was on. On their march to Leitrim, O'Sullivan Beare's soldiers, facing starvation, stormed the tower and succeeded in overpowering the O'Dwyers". From Bantry Bay to Leitrum by Sommerville-Large pg 153 "There was one more sharp engagement before O'Sullivan reached the shelter of the hills. The O'Dwyers and the O'Ryans made a half-hearted effort to block the trail, but when the men from Beare advanced, they retreated "stricken with fear". The picturesque graveyard across the road from the Motte where the famous Dan Breen is buried. A really well researched and presented sign on the Beara Breifne way, I hope it is still in good condition.

NOTE: This is currently a work in progress and I ask for any feedback on what I have written. Ryan is one of the top ten surnames by population / number of people in Ireland. It would be nice if there was a simple explanation as to the meaning of the surname Ryan, unfortunately to my knowledge there isn't. The most likely explanation is that it goes back to a King or Chief of Idrone circa 900AD named Rian or Rien. It was around this time that the Irish began taking on surnames and it may be that it was after him his descendants began to be called, O or descendent of Rian. We are not sure how or when exactly the O'Mulryan name came about. It is likely that it means "descendent of the followers of Rian". However, this is not certain. We will see further down in this article that the genealogies suggest they are both descended from the same ancestor circa 900AD. Although other evidence does contradict this. Just what Rian means is not known for sure. Explana...

Are you an O'Meara from Toomevara? Then this may be a carving of one of your forefathers from the 600 years ago. I stumbled across this recently. "Leaning against the inside of the north wall of the ruined church standing on the south of the modern Church is a wedge shaped tombstone. It has a band of inscription down either side and the top half is occupied by an equal armed cross with an inscription below the arms. A band of conventional gothic foliage separates it from a figure of a man carved in deep false relief on the centre of the lower portion of the stone. He is dressed in a tight-sleeved gown arranged in a curious pyramidal fashion below, and with a hood over his shoulders, the gole hanging down his chest in a point. His hands are shown together in front of him below his waist. The top of his head is flat, with what are presumably intended for curls with a band below them. The Black Letter inscription round the sides of the slab is only partly legible. Commencing...